Road Justice

Road Justice

Road casualties can and should be prevented, but the justice system fails to promote safety on our roads by not treating road crime as real crime. To make our roads safer, Cycling UK is campaigning for a justice system that discourages bad driving, educates drivers to a higher standard, takes bad drivers off the roads and delivers just and safe outcomes. Why wouldn’t you want that?

In May 2014 the Government in Westminster promised to carry out a full review of road traffic offences and penalties, but we’re still waiting. Instead, the Government are focusing solely on cycling offences, launching a consultation on proposed new offences which closed on 5 November.

99.4% of pedestrian fatalities on Britain’s roads involve a motor vehicle, and while we await the latest casualty figures, we estimate that over 1,800 pedestrians have died on our roads since May 2014.

But the Government plan to only look at cycling offences, tinkering around the edges of a desperately needed wider review, which should look at the way the justice system deals with mistakes, carelessness, recklessness and deliberately dangerous behaviour by all road users.

What is Cycling UK doing?

Cycling UK want the Government to broaden their review, to include taking action to:

Simplify and improve the legal definitions of unsafe driving behaviour

Increase the use of driving disqualifications and close the “exceptional hardship” loophole

Increase the current six-month maximum prison sentence for failing to stop

Our campaign, which is supported by Brake and RoadPeace, has also been backed by an incredible 13,000 people, who have written to their MP and the Department for Transport to support our consultation response.

On 20 November MPs held a backbench Parliamentary debate to consider 'Road justice and the legal system', where they supported our campaign and called on the Government to act. A huge thanks to everyone who took part in that action and has helped us make a stand for road justice.

The cycling offences consultation closed on 5 November, and while we wait for the outcome of that review, we will continue to work with our allies to lobby the Government to secure road traffic laws that deliver just and safe outcomes.